


For Better or Worse

by Girl_with_the_tiger_eyes



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 11:24:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6954529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girl_with_the_tiger_eyes/pseuds/Girl_with_the_tiger_eyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was a writing prompt I did for a 30 day writing challenge on tumblr. <br/>Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <br/>You have been with Ellie and Joel since Tess died, determined to help the two of them reach the Fireflies and save the world.<br/>They reach the University Tommy mentioned, and have their final destination. But nothing is ever that easy, and with Joels life hanging in the balance, will you and Ellie be able to save him in time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Better or Worse

Something had felt off about the University ever since you arrived, and finding it abandoned was only fraying your nerves more, so you were understandably on edge as the three of you listened to the tape explaining where the Fireflies had gone.

"Salt Lake City? Are you fucking kidding me?!" You wanted to scream. It was truly just one fucking trial after another. You been on the road for the best part of a year, almost died on numerous occasions, had the shit kicked out of you, and to make things worse, every time you thought the end was in sight, there was just another puzzle piece. You wouldn't be surprised if you made it to SLC and found another body pointing the way elsewhere. After the shit you'd been through, you figured it would be fair to give up and go home, with the world knowing that you'd all fucking tried, harder than a lot of people would have. Maybe the obstacles on the way were actually signs, telling you to give it up and turn back. But you kept ignoring them, and one of these days, it was gonna get you killed. 

You were about to say as much to the others when a flashlight outside had the three of you peering through the window.

"Fireflies?" Ellie asked excitedly, but Joel knew and reacted faster than either of you, grabbing you both and pushing your heads down. 

"Get down!"

A second later and a shot shattered the glass as whoever it was, open fired.

"Who the fuck are these guys?!" Ellie cried with her usual profanity, and you rolled your eyes before grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the door.

"Who the fuck cares, we gotta move!" 

No one argued with you, and the three of you sprinted back the way you'd came, almost making it to the main stairs before you literally ran into the bandits, releasing Ellie's hand as you and one of them tumbled down the stairs. You heard Joel yell your name, but you were too busy reaching for your gun and trying to fend off the guy in front of you on the floor, the two of you fighting to reach a weapon first.

A fist collided with your mouth and the taste of blood exploded on your tongue, making you want to gag, but instead you spat in the face of the guy who had hit you, and followed it up with a punch of your own, and then your fingers brushed the handle of a knife and you were slamming the blade into their face before you even made the decision to do it.

More blood sprayed, but you didn't think about it as you got back to your feet, seeing Joel finish off the others at the top of the staires, and then the three of you were running again. You tried to ignore the pain in your body, knowing that if you all got out of there, there'd be time for tending to wounds later.

"Almost there, just a few more turns..." You breathed as you sprinted down the next flight of stairs and back to boxes with the Fireflies inventory. This time you were more careful about running out, and Joel shot three guys before they even saw you. Then there was just one door between you and the lab that would get you back outside to the horse.

You reached the door first, but stopped to cover the back, letting the other two through first. You heard the door open and then...

"Got you asshole!" The bandit yelled as he shoved Joel against the fragile railings behind you, almost sending him over. Joel fought back and you rushed to his aid, not wanting to risk a shot when they were so close together, so you settled for pulling on the bandit's arm and punching over and over. Either he was jacked up on adrenaline, or he didn't care that you were hitting him, as he didn't let go of Joel, even when he managed to kick you away, onto your ass, but it gave Joel the opening he needed and you watched as he managed to punch the guy across the jaw, hard enough the guy lost his balance and fell into the railing next to Joel.

You saw what was going to happen next and were reaching for Joel in a milisecond, but you were too far away and you saw the fear in his eyes as the two men fell back through the railings.

"NO!" You screamed, still reaching for him, but it was too late. You scrambled to the edge as fast as you could, staring down at the two bodies on the floor, relief flooding your system when you saw that Joel was moving, but it quickly turned your stomach to lead when you saw the pool of red spreading out on the floor from beneath him, and then your eyes zeroed in on the rusty bar that had impaled him.

"Joel!" You cried, rushing for the edge and seeing Ellie already climbing down some wires, so you quickly followed her lead, landing on the ground floor and rushing to Joel's side, your stomach turning at the sight of him there, pinned to the floor like an insect on display. "Joel, don't move. Oh shit, just don't move. You're gonna be fine. We'll get you out of here... Ellie, take my gun and watch the doors... ELLIE!" The girl jumped as you yelled at her, snapping out of whatever shock she'd been in as she stared at Joel. She took your gun and did as you told her, so you returned to helping Joel, digging supplies out of your bag, but he placed a shaking hand on yours.

"No... Time," he gasped, and you knew he was right, but you also knew as soon as you got him off the spike, he was gonna start bleeding even more and you would need to try and stop it quickly if you were going to save him. "H... Help me..." 

You knew what he was asking, so even if it went against your own wishes, you took his hand in your bloody one and met his dark gaze. This is gonna hurt,  your eyes promised, and there was almost a flicker of amusement in Joel's answering look. I know, now lets get  it done. You pulled on his hand, grunting with the effort it took to lift him up high enough to get him off the spike, your heart clenching with every agonised shout that left his lips, but then he was free, his shoulders heaving as he fell to his knees and gasped in his breath.

"Joel?" You tried, quickly wrapping your arm around him and allowing him to lean into you for support. You pushed on his wound, trying to slow the bleeding, and Joel jerked and tried to pull away, his breath hissing between his teeth. "I know... I need to slow the bleeding, and we need to move... Ellie?" You called to her, looking to see that she'd opened the doors and had cleared the next hallway.

"Yeah, come on! It's clear!" She called, not lowering the gun as she watched the two of you limp towards her. She led you into a lab opposite the doors you'd just walked through, pushing some planks out of the way so a window could be climbed through.

"Can he handle the window?" She asked, her little face white with fear. Before you could answer her, Joel grunted a reply from your side, his own hand pressed over yours now. 

"I'm fine... I'm fine..."

He sounded like he was trying to make himself believe it too, but you knew better than to comment, and instead helped him through the window, Ellie on the other side. A door crashed open and there was the sound of shots, making Joel and Ellie fall to the floor, taking cover behind a work station, so you dropped too, unable to see anything as the guy who'd shot at you called out.

"They were my friends, assholes. You're gonna pay..."

You wanted to look over the wall, just to see where he was, but you knew the moment your head cleared the wall, he'd blow it off, so you stayed down for another few seconds until you heard a shot.

"You little bitch!"

Without thinking, you jumped up and took aim, seeing the bandit pointing a gun at Ellie, who had just taken a shot at him. His side was to you, so he didn't even see it coming as you fired your own weapon and killed him. Then you were jumping into the next room and pulling Joel to his feet again as Ellie went to the door. You wanted to call her back, but the next room needed clearing and she wasn't strong enough to support Joel by herself, so you had to let her go.

"Speak to me, Joel. How're you doing?" You panted as you practically dragged him into the hall, the air cold enough to show you that you were close to the outside of the building. "Not far now. Just hold on. Ellie's getting us out of here."

And she was. You were proud of her. She was a tough kid and you trusted her with your life more so than most adults you'd met. Her and Joel were your family, so you weren't losing any of them that day.

Two weeks later and you weren't so sure. You'd made it out of the University in one piece, managed to evade bandits and infected in a shopping mall, and Joel was still breathing. But he was not doing well.

He spent most of the time unconscious, and when he woke up he was barely lucid. He needed antibiotics, and soon or...

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Ellie yelled at you as you explained to her one morning what you were going to do.

"Ellie, I have to. He's not strong enough to be moved, and if I don't go and find him something, he's going to die in here! You have to stay with him while I'm gone. I'll be back in a few days, but someone needs to be here when..." you swallowed thickly. "If he wakes up again."

Ellie said nothing, but you saw the frustrated tears gleaming in her eyes as she wanted to argue with you. You understood how hard it was for her, but it was hard for you too, and you had to protect her and Joel until he was back on his feet. If you could even save him...

You turned away and pulled on your backpack and weapons, heading for the door of the cabin you were in. You had just reached it when Ellie's voice called out to you.

"Why are you even going out there? I know you think he's dead already. Why bother fighting if you don't believe?"

Whatever control you'd had on your emotions snapped at her words, and as much as you wanted to walk out of there and not stop until you found something to save Joel, you couldn't help but turn back around, your own tears beginning as you took a deep breath and then walked back to Ellie who was standing between you and Joel's unconscious body, clearly fighting back tears. You walked towards her and when you were in front of her, you stopped and placed your hands on her shoulders.

"I do believe, Ellie. I have to. It's the only way I can keep fighting, even if it looks like I'm giving up... But I'm with him, for better or for worse," you promised, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly.

Ellie just swiped and angry hand across her eyes and looked away, deflating before your very eyes. "It'll probably be worse," She muttered and you forced a chuckle before looking down into Joel's face and sighing. 

"I knew that the day I met him."


End file.
